THE RUNDOWN
Crooked numbers in the third and seventh inning helped No. 21 DBU blow past Baylor, 11-6, in front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 on Tuesday night at Horner Ballpark. The Patriots struck for six runs in the third frame and added a four-spot in the seventh to win their second straight against the Bears (16-12) and enter Missouri Valley Conference play with an 18-10 record.
 
Three different Patriots left the yard and four recorded multi-hit games to help the offense withstand a Baylor comeback in the middle innings fueled by relief pitcher Brett Garcia. The righty retired the first 11 batters he faced in 3.2 innings of shutdown baseball and the Baylor offense cut the DBU lead down to 7-6 by the seventh-inning stretch.
 
Ryan Wrobleski continued his torrid start to the season with two hits and three RBI, while Zach Heaton earned the win, throwing 2.0 shutout innings in a predetermined start. 
 
DBU plated the game's first run in the second inning. George Specht sent a 2-1 offering with two outs into left-center field and wheeled around to score on a Nate Rombach double that was crushed into left field.
 
The Patriot bats started to heat up in the third when DBU struck for six runs highlighted by a Ryan Wrobleski two-run homer and a George Specht three-run blast to centerfield.

Leading 7-0 through the first four innings, Baylor's Jared McKenzie laced a bases loaded double that cleared the bags and brought the Bears to within three.  In the sixth, Baylor added another run on an RBI single from Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo and in the seventh the Bears struck for two more to draw to within one run of the Patriots.

DBU responded in their half of the seventh with a four-run inning as Cole Moore brought in two runs on a single to right field and Miguel Santos ripped the first pitch that he saw over the wall in right for the Patriots third home run of the night.

After Bubba Hall exited at the end of the eighth inning, Alec Baker came out of the pen to close the game and left the bases loaded when he struck out Cardoza-Oquendo for the final out.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- DBU snapped a four-game losing streak at home to Baylor and won over the Bears for the first time at Horner Ballpark since March 25, 2016.
- The Patriots used five different relievers including Peyton Sherlin, Kyle Rich, Brady Rose, Bubba Hall, and Alec Baker.
- DBU scored double-digit runs for the third time this year.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4 - Four Patriots had multi-hit games including Andrew Benefield, Miguel Santos, George Specht, and Ryan Wrobleski.
.500 – DBU hit .500 with runners on base (9-18).
79 - Peyton Sherlin tied Randall Taylor (2004-2007) for the fourth-most appearances in DBU's Division I era with his 79th career appearance tonight.


 
UP NEXT
DBU opens Missouri Valley Conference play on Friday at Horner Ballpark in game one of a three-game series versus Missouri State.  First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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